When the Stars Go Blue
by SnapCracklePop
Summary: This story follows the lives of Haley and Nathan after Haley leaves for New York. There are three parts to this story and each one has both Nathan and Haley’s point of view. One Shot


Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill and the title came from the song that Tyler Hilton and Bethany Joy Lenz song together A.K.A. Chris and Haley 

Summary: This story follows the lives of Haley and Nathan after Haley leaves for New York. There are three parts to this story and each one has both Nathan and Haley's point of view. The first part takes place in 2005, the second and third are 2008 and 2010.

"When the Stars Go Blue" Part I- 2005

Nathan's POV:

I couldn't believe it, she was really gone. I didn't really mean it when I told her we would be over. I never expected her to actually leave. After all we had been through, and all the people we vowed to prove wrong about our marriage, I thought she would have more loyalty than that. I had alienated my family and given up basketball camp to be with her. Somehow I couldn't help but to blame myself. Had I not supported her or loved her enough? Maybe I loved her too much, but I would do anything just to find out. In the pit of my stomach I knew I would never see her again, no matter what I was telling people. I ruined any hope by threatening her. I made my bed and now I had to lie in it.

I looked around the apartment at all the empty beer bottles and leftover pizza boxes strewn around. If Haley could see me now she wouldn't be pleased. She always got upset when I left my dirty clothes on the floor or didn't clean up when I finished eating. With her gone I hadn't showered or shaved in days. Maybe it was a little overboard to bring malt liquor and call the teacher a slut, but nothing mattered to me anymore. Everyone told me I was throwing my life away but the truth was that my life had gotten on a bus and left me. Haley was my life and she was gone. I had nothing left to live for.

I made my way to the kitchen to grab a beer but ended up stumbling on an envelope laying on the ground. Inside was a drawing obviously done by Peyton. 'Sometimes they come back' was neatly drawn underneath the picture of a married couple holding hands. This gave me hope. If Peyton, the most pessimistic person I knew, believed that Haley would come back then maybe she would.

Suddenly a wave of emotion came over me. Calling her wouldn't hurt the situation. Maybe an apology would convince her to come home. I tentatively dialed the familiar number and listened as it rang. On the third one her voicemail picked up.

"Hi this is Haley. I can't get to the phone right now. Leave a message and I will call back." The recording played, followed by a beep.

"Hey Hales this is Nathan...umm...I just wanted to apologize for what I said to you...I really miss you. Please come home...I love you." I barely whispered the last part before I hung up. I finished my journey to the refrigerator and settled down on the couch, beer in hand, for a long night in front of my playstation.

Haley's POV:

I nervously waited backstage before my performance. The concert was swarming with musicians with the same dreams I had. All of them were equally, if not more, talented than I was and I felt slightly intimidated by it. But my main reason for coming was to surround myself with these types of people.

Tree Hill was a small town with a select few talented young people. Lucas and Nathan had basketball, Peyton had art and Brooke had cheerleading. For the longest time I lived I the shadow of my friends and my singing to myself. My world changed when Peyton asked me to play at Tric. Suddenly I was Haley, the singer not just Luke's best friend or Nathan's wife and I liked it. For those few weeks I stood out, people looked up to me for the first time. I was happy with that until Chris came along. He showed my how much more I could be. I resisted his offers for a while before I finally needed to explore. I needed to see if I was good enough. That was my true reason for leaving, not because of anything Nathan had done, but to find out how I could compare to other musicians.

I heard my cell phone ringing in my bag and turned around to answer it. By the time I got there Chris had it on his hand and by the look on his face I could tell it was Nathan. It was the same look he had whenever I mentioned my husband. On the third ring he pressed end and diverted the call to my voicemail. I tried to snatch it out of his hand but he was too quick.

"You don't need him Haley. He is only holding you back." He told me with a smug look on his face. Chris put his arm around my shoulder but I quickly shrugged it off. I could tell Chris was annoyed by my actions. "Fine call your husband. He's only going to make you come home." He told me snidely before tossing me my phone.

Just then my name was called to announce my performance. I tucked the phone back in my purse and noticed the gold shine of my wedding band inside. Chris told me not to wear it because if people knew I was married they would be less interested. Discreetly I slipped it on my finger and went on stage. I had to be crazy to be ashamed of my marriage to Nathan. I loved my husband with all my heart and nothing that Chris said could change that.

The experience of performing in front of an audience was exhilarating but I missed seeing Nathan's face in the front row, beaming with pride. I finally realized that I had made a mistake leaving Nathan and I had to do whatever possible to fix our relationship.

Part II- 2008  
Nathan's POV:

I slowly opened the door to my apartment and slid onto the couch with a sigh. I had just returned from a full day of basketball practice. Not long after Haley left I had been offered a full athletic scholarship to Duke University. For the first two years on the team I spent most of the time warming the bench with the other underclassmen. Now that I am a junior I had significantly more playing time. My starting position came along with some intense practice sessions. Most of the time I didn't mind spending hours on the court because it took my mind off of Haley. Even after three years I couldn't get her out of my head. Not one day went by when I didn't hear one of her songs on the radio and think about her. The rumbling in my stomach interrupted my thoughts.

To my disappointment my refrigerator only contained some sports drinks and leftover chinese food. Alcohol was no longer a staple in my diet as it had been previously. For many months I relied more and more on a bottle of vodka to numb my pain. A big wake up call came when I couldn't even come close to beating Lucas at a game at the rivercourt. I knew that my drinking wasn't good for my health and from that day on I dedicated myself solely to basketball and it became like therapy for me. All the practice eventually landed me a spot on the starting lineup at Duke. Surprisingly I was tired after today's practice. The coach was working us extra hard because we had a chance to win the championship this year.

I decided that pizza would have to do for dinner that night because I wasn't in the mood to cook. I called the pizza shop and ordered a small pizza to be delivered. While I was waiting I lounged in front of the television. Aimlessly I flipped through the channels hoping to catch one of the games that were on but somehow I ended up on MTV. I had briefly seen Haley's face and immediately turned the channel back.

There, on TRL, stood the love of my life. Sadness enveloped me when I saw that she had changed. Her hair was lighter, almost blond, and she was thinner than I had ever seen her. I was upset that she had been turned into the typical celebrity stereotype. One of the reasons why I had fallen in love with her was because of her originality and individuality. She never conformed to what people expected, but they had broken her. Even her smile wasn't the same and her eyes didn't have the same sparkle. I was about to turn it off but I was intrigued by the host's question.

"So Haley, any relationship advice for the viewers?" Haley glanced down at her left hand, the place where her wedding ring had once been and a small, genuine smile graced her lips.

"When you find love don't let it go." She stately confidently.

I sat speechless, not paying attention to the rest of the interview. I knew the moment before she answered the question that she was thinking about me- she had to be. I was probably the only person who knew her well enough to see the difference in her smile when she looked down at her ring finger. Somewhere inside she was still in love with me.

Haley's POV:

I sat in my dressing room before my appearance on TRL. My video had been at number one for three weeks and MTV had gone out of their way to book the interview. Apparently I was a hard person to track down.

The dressing room was filled with all types of items that Chris considered 'necessities". The only thing that I had requested was a bag of Oreos and a North Carolina newspaper. I munched on the cookies and searched through the newspaper for the college sports section. Each week this newspaper would print articles about each college. I had been following Duke's season, or more specifically Nathan's season, since I heard that he had been accepted there. I almost cried when I noticed that in one of the pictures Nathan was still wearing his ring. My tears were partly happy because I knew he hadn't gotten over me but that was also the sad part. I knew that everyday he would wake up and miss me as much as I missed him.

I heard footsteps coming towards the door and I quickly stuffed the newspapers and Oreos under the chair cushion. Chris would kill me if he knew I was following Nathan's career. He was constantly telling me that I needed to move on and that I was happier now. I had tried to convince myself that so many times, but I wasn't happy. Any time I tried to contact Nathan, Chris would cut me off and make up some excuse to stop me. He even went as far as taking my wedding ring. I had no proof that he stole it but I knew that I would never lose something that important to me.

The consequences would have been worse if Chris had caught me eating cookies. Since the day I singed my record contract he had been pressuring me to lose weight. He told me I wasn't the "whole package", which according to him meant I wasn't sexy enough. He told me that being thinner, wearing tighter clothes and lightening my hair would help sell records. I had come so far and I wasn't willing to give it up over my appearance. Over time his demands rose until he had almost created an entirely new person. Sometime between then and now the changes on the outside had changed the person on the inside. I wasn't happy with my life. It had gotten to a point where I had to sneak meals during the day just to keep myself healthy.

An MTV employee peeked her head inside the door.

"Excuse me Miss James, you are on in five minutes." She had politely. I followed her out and got ready to make my entrance. Everything was going smoothly until the host asked "So Haley, any relationship advice for the viewers?" If they knew my story they wouldn't have asked me about relationships. I had a perfect marriage until I decided to throw it all away. I looked down at the empty space on my left ring finger and smiled at the band of untanned skin. It was my first real smile in months. Nathan was the only person who could make me truly smile.

"When you find love don't let it go." I told the audience. _'Don't make the same mistake that I did.' _I thought to myself.

Part III- 2010

Haley's POV:

My hand shook as I carefully poured the white, grainy powder out of the dimebag onto the night stand and cut it into lines. I looked around and laughed at the irony of the situation. Here I was staying at the Four Seasons presidential suite and I was about to take a hit. Everyone around me was too busy sucking up to me to notice my addiction, everyone except Chris. He was the one that caused the whole problem. I remembered the conversation we had like it was yesterday._Flashback_

_I sat in front of my plasma TV in my New York penthouse. I was watching Nathan start in his first NBA game for the Lakers. I was happy that at least one of us had achieved happiness._

_"What the hell are you watching this for?" Chris asked as he barged into the room, snatched the remote from my hand and turned off the TV."Why are you here? This is supposed to be my day off." I asked exasperatedly. I was tired of fighting with Chris over my schedule. _

_"I have something I want you to try." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small baggie._

_"Are those drugs?" I asked in disbelief._

_"Yeah it's cocaine and I want you to take it. It helps keep the weight off."_

_"Chris I'm not using drugs." I told him firmly._

_"Either you do or I quit. Good luck finding another manager. Nobody wants to represent a washed up high school drop out who is still in love with her high school sweetheart." Chris threatened. I was used to taking these insults all the time and over the past five years my self esteem had dropped considerably. I started to rethink my views on drug use. Sure they were addicting but I wouldn't get caught up. Doing once wouldn't hurt and I was strong. At least that's what I told myself. What did I honestly have to lose? I wasn't happy and drugs could help take some of my pain away. _

_End Flashback_

That was one year ago today but it seemed like an eternity. Everyone was right, I was naive. I thought I saw something in Chris but I was wrong. He was just a dirty, lying bastard. Suddenly a fit of rage came over me and I picked up the night stand and threw it to the ground. My life wasn't supposed to be like this. I was a straight A student and I could have been anything I wanted but I chose to be a singer and look where it got me. 

I took the rest of the cocaine and flushed it down the toilet. When I looked up I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I looked horrible- my face was pale, my body was emaciated and my hair was falling out. At that moment I vowed to clean up and get Nathan back.

I pulled on a sweat suit, took my credit card and drove off leaving my career behind. I was on my way to Tree HIll to see Nathan. I didn't care how long it would take me to get there or how bad my cravings would be, it would be worth it.

Nathan's POV:

I sat on the beach outside of my summer house in Tree Hill while my dog Ralph splashed around in the shallow water. I relaxed and watched the sunset like I did almost every night in the summer. During the off-season I returned to my home town but no longer to an apartment. On my NBA salary I could afford huge mansions all over the country but anywhere I lived I always felt lonely. That is why I got Ralph. I adopted him from a shelter when he was just a puppy and a year ago and his size had doubled. Ralph really was my best friend.

When it got too late I brought Ralph inside and climbed into bed with him at my feet. I expected to get a good night's sleep that night but was woken at 3 am by the incessant knocking at the front door. I made my way out of bed and answered the door still half asleep.

"Hello I'm officer Smith from the Tree Hill police department. Are you Nathan Scott?"

"Yes I am. Is there a problem officer?"

"We have a women asking for you at the hospital. She says she's you wife. Her name is Haley James." At the mention of Haley's name I became wide awake. Why was she in Tree Hill? But more importantly why was she in the hospital?

"I'll be there in five minutes officer. Thank you." I said before rushing around to get dressed nearly putting my shoes on the wrong feet. I sped through town on the way to the hospital. On my way there I saw a porsche smashed into a tree and police officers surrounding the scene.

When I got to the hospital the nurse at the front desk directly me to Haley's room in the intensive care unit. The doctor told me that she probably didn't have much time left, an hour at most. She sustained serious brain and organ damage when her car hit the tree. There was massive amount of internal bleeding that the doctors diagnosed as inoperable. They also noted that she was experiencing severe withdrawals that could have attributed to the crash itself.

I stood outside her room wondering what I was supposed to say to her. It had been over five years since I had seen or spoken to her and now I she was right back in my life, but not for long. Did she expect me to forgive her and forget that she had left me? All the pain that I had repressed inside me came right back to the surface when I walked in saw Haley laying in the hospital bed.

There were wires and tubes hooked to her and her face was bruised. She looked like a shell of the person that I once knew. My head was spinning as I made my way towards her and sat down in the chair next to her bed. Slowly I took her hand in mine and she began to stir.

"Nathan?" She croaked out.

"Yeah Hales it's me." I whispered back, holding back my tears.

"I'm sorry for everything Nathan. I was coming back." Her emotional and physical pain was almost tangible.

"It's okay. I forgive you." Speaking those words were so much easier than I expected.

"I still love you. I never stopped loving you." She said as her breaths got shallower.

"I know Hales. I love you too." I told her before the beeping of the machines turned into a constant. I kissed her hand and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. In a daze I got up and walked out of the hospital. I sat in my car in the parking lot thinking about all the opportunities I had to reconcile with her. All along both of us were still in love with each other but we were too stubborn to act on our feelings. Haley had tried to take the first step and now she was gone forever. All I had to do was pick up the phone or get in the car and I could have saved her. She was on the other side of the country, in trouble, and I was too 'tough' to forgive her.

I would never know what exactly had driven her to take drugs but I knew it probably had to do with me. She was the last person I would have expected to become an addict but I blamed myself for it. I watched her on TV every year seeing how much more broken she would become. Out of spite I would tell myself that she deserved it because she had left. Looking back I wish I would have let my guard down and reached out to her. This whole thing was my fault and I was left to live with it.


End file.
